Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Under the sea.

DSC_0400

One of the days we were in Hawaii we drove to the town of Lahaina and took a submarine ride with Atlantis Adventures. What a great excursion! We saw many beautiful fish and learned a lot about the fascinating and fragile ecosystem of a coral reef. Our guide was very entertaining, keeping a nice balance between factual information and humor.

DSC_0401
Riding a boat out to the submarine

DSC_0403
Waiting for the sub to surface. Can you spot it under the water?

DSC_0405
Here she comes!

DSC_0406

DSC_0411
There she is!

DSC_0412
Preparing to go down the hatch

DSC_0413

DSC_0416
On board the
Atlantis. Everyone has his own window for viewing

DSC_0426
As we approached the ocean floor we saw many large and small fish

DSC_0419
The colors were more vivid than my camera was able to capture

DSC_0434
A shark! Notice that the little fish aren't afraid of him. But when another kind of fish approached, the school turned very quickly and swam the other way

DSC_0431
We passed by this shipwreck. Our guide told us this was
Atlantis I but that the company had made some design changes for the Atlantis sub we were on! In reality this was a very old ship whose hull had rusted through.

DSC_0429
The ship now serves as a makeshift reef for many fish


After surfacing we boarded the boat again and headed for shore. We saw several signs of humpback whales: spray from blowholes and tails slapping the water, but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of any of them.

Upon disembarking we walked around the historical town of Lahaina. We enjoyed a fun and delicious lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise and then stopped to admire the magnificent Banyan tree near the old courthouse.

DSC_0450
The Pioneer Inn - hosted such famous guests as Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Frank Sinatra in its prime

DSC_0451
Lahaina is a charming little oceanfront town

DSC_0454
Enjoying lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise. The open-air restaurant overlooks the ocean on Lahaina's Front Street

DSC_0459
This beautiful Banyan tree was planted in 1873 by Christian missionaries. Standing more than 60 feet high, it stretches over a 200-foot area and shades two-thirds of an acre. The tree has twelve major trunks in addition to its huge core

DSC_0458
Hockey Boy and Dots with the Banyan Tree

8 comments:

Rachel said...

sounds like a fun day! I remember visiting Lahaina while we were in Hawaii 9 years ago. No submarine ride, though - how cool is that???

Your vacation sounds like it was an amazing week. I know how hard it must be to return to reality!

3 Peanuts said...

Sounds like you guys had the BEST time. i hope you are easing back into norma life:)

3 Peanuts said...

Sorry for they typos..so tired:)

Christie said...

Oh this is just incredible!! I'm so jealous (in a good way) - I can't wait to go...hope I get to see all the same amazing things you are seeing. Such a great post!

KK said...

Your pictures are so beautiful--the color is amazing!

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

I just caught up with your adventures in Hawaii!! What a blast, loved that you are keeping us updated. Soak it all in, girl...every bit!!

Amber M. said...

LOVE the whole submarine thing. And seeing a SHARK?? Too cool.

annechovie said...

How fun! Thanks for sharing all of your vacay photos - so glad you had such a great time, Eloise!